Since Yesterday: The 1930's in America, September 3, 1929 to September 3, 1939

'Since Yesterday' (1940) is a journalistic history of the 1930's in America. Frederick Lewis Allen also wrote 'Only Yesterday' (1930) about the 1920's, and these two books are probably his most well known and popular. It is written in a conversational tone for a popular audience and at times is really entertaining and fascinating. It's at its best discussing popular culture and the changing zeitgeist of America, the political and economic history is often a bit dry. It's valuable for learning about the era because it was one of the first attempts at writing a history of the 1930's, when the events were still fresh, the episodes Allen focuses on are what the people of the time found the most important and foremost in their conscious. Thus one gets a sense of how events flowed together, how one thing effected the next, a more holistic view. The 1930's were very dynamic for a lot of reasons, probably one of the most rapidly changing of the 20th century despite it's sordid reputation for gangsters, dust bowls and the depression - World War II was largely a product of the (failed) politics of the 1930's and that war defined the rest of the century (and beyond). My interpretation (not Allen's) is that empowering technological innovations had spread to the masses: cars, radio, machinery, electricity - these things created more free time (5-hr work week, leisure time), rising rates of education and political involvement - all part of a bigger continuing process that can be seen in the world today in China, India, etc.. we have much to learn about the changes other countries are going through by looking back at the changes in our own country in the 1930's.

Though not the equal of "Only Yesterday," Allen's wonderful book about America in the 1920s, "Since Yesterday" continues where its predecessor left off: it is an excellent overview of the American experience in that trying decade, the 1930s. Allen once again seems to touch on all the significant social, political, cultural and economic events during the decade. I refrained from giving it 5 stars only because Allen wrote it fairly soon after the decade ended and thus did not benefit from the perspective and information available to later students of the '30s.

Frederick Lewis Allen begins this short book (346 pages) where he left off in his last book (?Only Yesterday?) - with the stock market crash of 1929 - and ends it with the advent of World War II in 1939. Allen skillfully weaves the minor events of this decade (the fads, books, crimes, machines, gadgets, personalities, movies, fashions, etc.) togetherwith the major events (the stock market crash, the ?Great Depression?, and ?the New Deal?) in a delightfully entertaining, informative fashion - assuming, of course, that youenjoy American history! The '29 crash had been immediately preceded by the ?Big Bull? market that had carried investors and stocks onward and upward for some 2 years before it finally peaked. Investors, by then, were ?programmed? to buy, buy, buy. All feared that they might miss one last opportunity to get richer. Stock transactions sometimes became so hectic that Wall Street could not keep up with the paperwork (no computers!). Some pundits of thatday were issuing warnings that stock prices were overvalued, that investors were investing too much borrowed money, but few investors were heeding these warnings. When stock prices began falling, nothing could stop them. By the time stock values hitbottom on 13 November investors had lost enough money to finance World War I once, or pay off the national debt twice! In a matter of months 25% of the work force was unemployed; many of them were now standing in the ubiquitous breadlines, or peddlingapples for 5 cents on street corners. The market crash triggered another major event of the ?30?s - the ?great depression?. President Hoover insisted that the economy was only experiencing one of those ?cyclicalbusiness cycles?, that it would eventually ?self-correct?, and that life in America would again be just great. He approved some actions to aid businessmen and failing banks, andto create some jobs by expanding some federal work programs, but basically Hoover opposed any kind of relief for the unemployed or their families. The government, he thought, should do nothing to damage Americans? ?initiative and ?rugged individualism?. Later, Hoover approved some expenditures for seed and for animal feed, but vetoed any proposals to help the cold, the starving, or the unemployed. Hoover was above alldetermined to balance the federal budget and he was certain that nature (and economic problems) would eventually run its course and that his ?hands off? (laissez-faire) economic policy would prove to be the proper government response to the depression. Between the crash of ?29 and the presidential election of 1932, however, there was no visible improvement in the economy. Consequently, Hoover?s defeat in the upcoming 1932 election was preordained. That?s what happened; Franklin Delano Rooseveltbecame president. FDR and Hoover had diametrically opposed views with regard to the federal government?s role vis-à-vis the national economy and the depression. Once elected FDR immediate

Allen covers the period from September 3, 1929, to September 3, 1939. Interestingly, the first date is when the Bull Market reached its peak, and the last date is when England and France declared war on Germany. The book is an excellent contemporary account of the 1930's. The topics that Allen thought were noteworthy in 1939 are still noteworthy today. Anyone who reads this book should also read "Only Yesterday" which is Allen's account of the 1920's.

Frederick Allen wrote this wonderful followup of his book "Only Yesterday" as news of Germany's invasion of Poland was anounced. He brings the era alive with descriptions of what people wore, the movies they went to see, the books they read and how people felt about their everyday life. Allen used information from papers, magazines and even advertisements in a refreahing descriptive way that will draw you into the 30s and make you want to dance the Jitterbug and vote for FDR.